Sydney CDI - Where the City and Country Meet

By: Hannah Brooks

Pamela Bode and Quinto 26

It has always been said that Sydney’s Royal Easter Show is the place where the city and country met. Although the Royal hasn’t been held in Paddington since 1997 - it’s safe to say that the equestrian tradition is very much alive and well in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. 

At the heart of the equestrian community in Sydney’s east is the Sydney Centennial Park Equestrian Centre. Here, only minutes away from Sydney’s CBD; Sydney’s urban equestrians and dressage enthusiasts are blessed with exceptional facilities. This unique centre boasts five riding schools, both indoor and outdoor arenas and perhaps the most incredible equine resource is actually - Centennial Park itself!

You might be surprised to discover that some of Australia’s most prominent dressage riders, coaches and owners competing in this year’s Sydney CDI, actually live and train their horse’s smack bang in the middle of the city, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Leading riders you might expect to see enjoying the facilities at Centennial Park include;

1.    Pamela Bode

2.    Denise Rogan

3.    Damon Barlow

4.    Mark Arthur

5.    Alison Castle

Local rider, Pamela Bode, lives in Clovelly and trains in Centennial Park with her coach Rachael Downs. An accomplished rider in her own right, Rachael has represented Australia in both the World Equestrian Games and the Olympics. Pamela described working with Rachael as “very inspirational”. In their training Pamela and Rachael have been working together “to improve the movements, the accuracy and the flow of our tests”. As a result, Pamela thinks her competition results have improved in her lead up to the Sydney CDI.

This year Pamela has qualified for the Sydney CDI on Quinto 26 in the Prix St George, Intermediate 1 competitions and if they finish in the top 12 in the Intermediate I they qualify for the Intermediate Freestyle. Quinto 26 is owned by both Pamela and another member of eastern suburbs equestrian community, Andrea Roberts of Double Bay.

I asked Pamela if there was a sense of camaraderie with the dressage riders who train at Centennial Park. Here’s what she had to say;

“Very much so, I had so many comments of congratulations with being accepted into my classes at the CDI and there will be quite a few people from there who will come up to the CDI to watch, especially on the Saturday night. After returning back to the stables from the competition there are always people to ask how you went. We look out for each other. If you need help there is always someone to lend a hand, it’s also social”

As the Sydney CDI is truly an international event I was curious to know if Pamela’s varies her training in preparation for an event of this calibre.

“I try not to make it any different as I don’t want to add any stress to my horse, I want him relaxed and want to preform and dance with me keeping him supple and sound. I will have more coaching with Rachael Downs and I will be going to Young for 3 days as a warm up to the CDI and it is good for fitness competing for those days”

With an impressive line- up of judges set to officiate at the Sydney CDI 2014. Including, Mr Stephen Clarke (FEI 5* Judge from Great Britain),  Mr Peter Holler (FEI 5* Judge from Germany), Mrs Lilo Fore (FEI 5* Judge from the USA), Mrs Victoire Mandl (DEI 4* Judge from Austria), Mrs Sue Hobson (FEI 4* judge from New Zealand), Mrs Helen Hughes-Keen  (FEI 4*  Judge from New Zealand), Australia's  Mary Seefried (FEI 5*), Susan Hoevenaars (FEI 5*), Maria Schwennesen (FEI 4*), Joanne Fowler (FEI 3*), Jane Ventura (FEI 4*), Gisela Nilsson-Harding (FEI 3*) – I asked Pamela how she thought local riders benefited from the feedback from the international judges.

 Pamela’s thoughts on the matter were…

“I think it is fantastic to have international Judges judging us, it makes the competition more      prestigious, and it’s always interesting reading the individual comments from the International Judges for each of the movements I can learn a lot from that with my training at home to improve for the next competitions. With Dressage there is never an end to learning more and improving more”

If you’re a fan of Pamela Bode come and see the fruits of her labour as she competes on Quinto 26 in the following classes:

·         the Jilli CobcroftPrix St George on Saturday 3 May 2014

·         in the EquilibriumIntermediate 1 on Friday 2 May 2014

·         and in the Zilco Intermediate Freestyle on Saturday 3 May 2014

It promises to be a thrilling competition as the Sydney CDI keeps on getting bigger and better.

The Sydney CDI – Where the stars gather.

Quick Links

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